


Angel In A Devil Suit

by allthebeautifulthings9828



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Best Friends, Costumes, Fallen Castiel, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Human Castiel, No Romance, POV Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-04
Updated: 2013-10-04
Packaged: 2017-12-28 10:07:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/990768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthebeautifulthings9828/pseuds/allthebeautifulthings9828
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Halloween fast approaching, Charlie decides they need to take Castiel out on the town since he's never had a real Halloween in his existence. The former angel comes up with a costume that he calls amusing but he builds it in secret. No one is allowed to see it until Halloween night. And when the time comes, he doesn't disappoint!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Angel In A Devil Suit

"Doesn’t it seem weird to you that we left Cas with Charlie like dumping a kid on a babysitter?" Sam questioned his brother.

"You wanna risk leaving him alone with the washing machine again?"

Sam shrugged. “Okay. Touche.”

The Winchesters turned another flight of stairs together since the elevator in Charlie’s building never worked. Kansas City had some sketchy areas and Dean didn’t like her living there alone, but she adamantly refused his offer to let her move in the bunker. She was a loner and she hated the idea of living with a bunch of slobby men, so she’d said.

"Charlie!" shouted Dean as he gave a courtesy knock on her door.

"Yo! It’s open!" she shouted back.

Dean and Sam let themselves into her small apartment decorated in bright colors and memorabilia from every geek movie ever made. Two vaguely human shapes huddled on the couch, sitting cross-legged, both glued to the television.

"Hello?" said Sam.

A hand popped over the back of the couch and waved at the brothers to shut up. “Shh!” Charlie demanded.

"What are you watching?" Dean wondered, approaching the couch.

“ _Hocus Pocus_.” They were the first words Castiel spoke since they arrived and he didn’t even look at them to answer the question.

The brothers exchanged incredulous looks.

"Isn’t that a kiddie movie?" Dean asked.

"A classic never dies, Dean. Now sit down and watch the movie or sit in the hallway. My buddy Cas here has never had a real Halloween. This is a cultural lesson." Charlie's hand snapped shut, signaling for him to keep quiet.

As she spoke, Sam hopped over the back of the couch. “Never, Cas?”

"I was an angel, Sam. I always had work to do," he replied and then threw a handful of popcorn in his mouth.

"Doesn’t seem right, never dressing up or anything. The candy alone is worth everything about Halloween," Dean said as he perched himself on the arm of the couch near Charlie. "I mean, Sammy and I didn’t have the greatest childhood but I usually tried to take the kid trick-or-treating wherever we were at the time."

Laughing, Sam nodded. “Remember the knight’s shield made out of a trash can lid?”

"Oh my God, yes!"

A warning glare shot across the couch from Charlie. “Shhh!”

Despite pretending to be too cool for a Disney movie, the Winchester brothers did get into the story. They both laughed raucously at the same time when the kids read that only a circle of salt kept away the witches. All of them wildly applauded as Charlie did her best imitation of Sarah Jessica Parker singing to bewitch all of the children in Salem. It was a good way to unwind after the hunt, Dean decided, though he was loathed to admit it. He even ate popcorn with Castiel. It was burned in spots, but he ate it nonetheless.

"Ohhh! What if we got dressed up and went to a bar or something for Halloween?" suggested Charlie with an excited flip of her bright red hair.

"You’re kidding, right? Costumes?" Sam said skeptically. "We’re not kids anymore and this one here’s like a million years old."

"Eight million."

"What?"

Castiel’s eyes lifted to Sam’s face as if speaking of a distant memory. “I’m eight million years old, Sam.”

"All the more reason for him to go. Halloween’s like the Super Bowl in your business, you know. Cas should see the fun side of it!" Her emphatic argument grew more animated with a wide smile and gesturing hands.

Dean shrugged. “I’m cool with any trip to a bar.”

Sam hated holidays but even he couldn’t deny the shine in Castiel’s blue eyes. He didn’t say much about it, of course. He never did say much since he came to live in the bunker after his grace was stolen. Dean learned quickly to read his body language and facial expressions, which he didn’t conceal as well as he thought he did. Who knows, Dean thought to himself. It could be cool. Charlie usually made everything quite an unexpected adventure.

The redhead told them all they had to do was find costumes for themselves and she would handle the rest. Nothing too trendy or she wouldn’t be seen with them. She was an expert at LARPing and cosplay, and that meant, in her words, big pressure. _Big_ pressure!

First, Sam suggested Batman and Robin but Dean made a sour face, thinking it was too homoerotic. And anyway, neither one of them wanted to concede to playing second fiddle to the other. It would also leave Castiel as … what … Catwoman? Bat Girl? As funny as that would be, Dean couldn’t do that to him.

The next morning, Castiel declared he decided on his costume but nobody could know what it was until Halloween. It was a surprise. That piqued Dean’s curiosity and he tried every interrogation method he knew within the limits of friendship to get it out of him. Castiel only smirked and said it would be amusing and they would see it soon enough. Dean didn't know to respond to a former angel with a mischievous streak. Most of him thoroughly enjoyed that new aspect of his personality but part of him missed how transparent Castiel was when he was an angel.

Then came the day Castiel began smuggling in plastic shopping bags under his coat. Dean burned with even more curiosity and even considered snooping in Castiel's room while he showered. In the end, though, he decided the amusing little surprise probably meant more to Castiel than anyone else. As his friend, he needed to let him have that moment. So Dean occupied himself with building costumes for he and his brother. He hoped the idea would make even Charlie proud of them.

The night Halloween came, Charlie paraded around her apartment dressed like an anime character. Brightly colored hair and a flamboyant dress made certain she would be seen everywhere that night, although Dean didn't guess anyone at a bar knew enough about anime to recognize her costume.

"Oh my God, awesome!" she squeaked with glee as Sam and Dean appeared.

"I know, right?" Sam replied through a smirk.

Dramatically, Dean took a bow. "Thank you. Thank you. No applause now."

Wearing an approving smile, Charlie walked a circle around each brother and appraised their costumes. Each brother wore a different version of a steampunk hunter. Their weapons weren't useful in the slightest but Dean thought they looked cool. He adapted cheap costumes for Victorian men with weapons and bullets carefully hidden all over, yet in plain sight. Sam looked more of the part than Dean with his heroic stature and romance novel hair, which, of course, deserved all measure of brotherly teasing.

"Freakin awesome," said Charlie. "Way to fly under the radar right under our noses, guys. Where's your boy with clipped wings? Is he not a steampunk hunter too?"

"No," Dean replied as he adjusted his hat. "He came up with his own but he won't let anybody see it."

"Yeah, he won't tell us anything about it besides it'll be _amusing_ ," added Sam with a shrug. "He hasn't shown interest in much of anything since he fell so I'm happy to play along, you know?"

Charlie's thin lips quickened upward by the corners and her eyes twinkled. "So this Halloween thing was a good idea, huh? Go on, you can say it. I'm a genius." She took her turn for a dramatic bow. "Thank you. Thank you. No applause now."

Laughing, Sam shook his head. "She's way too much like you, dude."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," replied Dean as he slung an arm around Charlie's shoulders.

Just as mouthy as Dean too, Charlie tipped her head back and hollered, "Cas! C'mon, let's go! There's a bar full of drunken people in bad costumes waiting for us!"

The bedroom door at the end of the hall cracked open, a shaft of artificial lamp light spreading across the floor. Castiel's dark head poked out and he peered at them congregated between the living room and the kitchen as if making sure they were all ready for him. Dean thought he saw a flash of red but Castiel disappeared back into the room's interior before he could focus on it.

But suddenly, the former angel reappeared and strolled down the hall toward them. He smiled, knowing they would react as he put on a top hat with a theatrical flair. Castiel no longer resembled a nerdy angel but a ...

"The devil?" Dean's jaw fell open, combined with a smile. "Holy shit. Fucking hilarious."

It won Charlie over in a heartbeat as he dissolved into laughter so thoroughly that she bent over and clapped with fits of hilarity. "It's like a virgin dressing up like a hooker. I love it," she managed to choke out the words between fits of laughter.

As the three of them leaned all over each other laughing, Castiel smiled proudly at his accomplishment. It wasn't a frightening costume, nor was it meant to be. He apparently found a bright red leisure suit designed to appear obnoxious and out of style, with a red top hat. Two devil horns covered in sequins poked from the sides of the top hat and, as he turned, a pointed tail tangled from his butt. It was the most ridiculous thing Dean had ever seen and that was exactly why he loved it.

And that night, Castiel had more women in skimpy costumes trying to get pictures with him than the rest of them. It was just proof that no woman could resist the potential of a devil in a pretty package.


End file.
